June 6th, 2010, 17:04 – The Pub

"How the fuck do I manage to be around you at all?" Karkat sighs miserably, his gravelly voice causing the two on either side of him to chuckle. He inhales on his cigarette once more before stamping it out into the chipped ashtray on the table in front of them. "Seriously, do I have to fucking leave even when I was the one who decided to gather us here, and where the fuck is that fuckass who said he'd be here half an hour ago, I've had enough of you two talking about each other."

Sollux looks up at the woman across from him, smirking more or less to himself. He taps his own carton of cigarettes on the forest green laminated table, withdrawing one and taking his friend's lighter to spark it, the tip burning a dirty glowing orange. On his first inhale, he blows the smoke out onto the table, watching it spread and dissipate into the surrounding haze from the other patrons. "We don't always talk about each other," he added casually. Karkat slams his hands on the table, thumbs scratching at the wooden trim.

"You're an idiot, Captor. If it's not her complaining about you, it's you complaining about her." Before he can go on, Aradia laughs from next to him.

"Really, Karkat, you can't take someone else complaining?"

He only scowls, but finally his expression softens, albeit marginally, when he sees a familiar face walk into the bar. He finishes his pint and shoves past Sollux on the rounded bench to join the newcomer. Aradia's mouth quirks into a smile at Sollux and he feels a sudden dark feeling sinking in his stomach. He physically clenches the feeling away and taps off the ashes into the tray.

"Can I have one of those?" she asks him, gesturing to his cigarettes. He passes them over without a word and watches as her long fingers withdraw one and light it. She blows the smoke out of her nose, she always has.

"Thought you were quitting," Sollux murmurs, watching Karkat from across the room. "Or are those just the ones you spend your own money on?"

"Fuck off," she giggles.

"Yeah, I know, it's hard to resist it when the entire fucking pub smells like someone's been smoking them out their asshole for three months." His voice trips over the last two words, slurring them slightly with his old lisp he hadn't quite gotten over.

"Thanks for the mental picture."

Sollux pulls out his phone, scrolling through his contacts. He's dressed in his typical garb, a black T-shirt and loose jeans. His dark hair is unstyled, sticking out in random places, sun glasses hanging by the collar of his shirt. His eyes are blue, but his right pupil is permanently swollen to a large size, nearly blocking out any remaining colour. It is this way due to a rather embarrassing injury he doesn't like to talk about. He flips through his messages, glaring at his last one.

"Eridan bail on us again?"

"God, fuck him," Sollux growls and shoves his phone back in his pocket. "Probably too busy with his hair or whatever."

"We don't complain about each other all the time, do we?"

The question catches Sollux off guard as he looks up, eyebrows raised. Aradia is biting her lip nervously, one hand tousling her jet-black curls with perfectly manicured nails. Her brown eyes are lined with equally black eyeliner, complexion naturally tanned and clear. She's wearing a thin-strapped sleeveless top and short trousers. Sollux swallows before answering her question.

"It's Karkat," he says simply.

She nods half-heartedly at his response. "It's just ever since we broke up, maybe we take shots at each other a little more often…"

Sollux doesn't answer, feeling the awkward tension rise between them. Taking the opportunity, he gets up and saunters over to the bar not before mumbling to Aradia that he'll get her another pint. He doesn't want to deal with what she was about to bring up. It was hard enough to even be around her without discussing their breakup. It happened over six months ago, and he could say he was over it. Sollux could definitely say he was over it, just not when it was brought up in conversation. What was that about?

He joins Karkat and Terezi, holding out two fingers to the bartender. The newcomer turns as Sollux lightly brushes against her arm and without hearing a word, she recognizes him. "Captor," she simply states as a greeting before turning back to the sound of Karkat's voice. He knows she can't see very well, but her other senses were more the eyes she would ever need. She's grinning at Karkat as he airs his grievances in rambling, convoluted strings of metaphor. It was all anyone could do as he spoke, both at his undeniable wit and the hilarity that he was being serious. He rarely saw the man smile.

Sollux is handed two pints and he nods as he takes them back to the table. When he turns around, there is a new presence at the table already, and he immediately feels a strong sense of annoyance. There he is, Eridan fucking Ampora, the douchelord who has shown up not only fashionably late, but clearly flirting with Sollux Captor's ex-girlfriend. Had he not already felt completely awkward before returning to see his (whom he now regrettably called) friend, his reaction could have been avoided as he stalked back over to the table, sliding in next to Aradia in the middle of whatever snickering conversation they were having.

"Got your pint," he speaks up as the other two fall silent.

"Hey, Sol," Eridan says cheerfully, as if nothing had been happening. Sollux gives him a look of contempt, his anger flaring. It's strange how easily he could become irritated. He's over her. Definitely. But this asshole just doesn't know what's appropriate. Sollux isn't responding, the awkward tension building even more, and he can feel Aradia flicking him sharply in the arm.

Eridan looks back and forth between them. The corner of his mouth twitches into an attempted smile as he senses the anger emanating from Sollux. "Sorry I'm late?" His statement is posed as a question asking what he did wrong. Something in Sollux lets go as he sighs in defeat, figuring it's not worth it to begin bickering, though he knows he's going to hear it from Aradia.

"Yeah, no, it's okay. I'm sure you had important hair problems to attend to."

Eridan scoffs, feeling his friend returning to his normal, nonchalant tone. He himself laughs nervously, Sollux noticing a sudden flush in his cheeks and the loss of eye contact. "No, Fef lost one of her bangle things at my place, I had to look for it, you know how she is."

Right, Fef, fuck, Sollux thinks, feeling a wave of embarrassment wash over him. It's almost as strong as the aura of contained rage bleeding from Aradia next to him. The cover-up is bloody obvious, an odd stroke of modesty from the typically arrogant man, and for once, Sollux can appreciate him. Eridan leaves the booth to the bar without a word, and the awkward silence returns. It kills him, and he reaches out to the first thing he can think of saying.

"So, uh, in the middle of the day for those two? Impressive." He may as well have not said anything, because as soon as he stops speaking, he hears it.

"What the fuck," Aradia spits. "What is your fucking problem?"

Sollux doesn't even look over, suddenly feeling mentally exhausted. He just takes a large gulp of beer. "I'm sorry," he says simply.

"Not everyone in a mile radius is fucking flirting with me all the fucking time," she snarls. He wants to wince. "And even if they were, what fucking right do you have to get pissed about it? You told me you were over this. Over us."

He is. He totally is. And when Eridan returns, sipping on a Guinness (not because he likes it, Sollux knows, but because this is his interpretation of "doctor's orders" for getting more iron for his anemia) Sollux puts a trying smile on his face and attempts to return to normal.

"Still drinking that fucking sludge?" he says, every last shred of confidence present in his voice.

"Fuck off," Eridan smiles and brings the glass to his lips.